Investing.com - U.K. industrial order expectations improved more than expected in March, fuelling optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Confederation of British Industry said its index of industrial order expectations rose by 3.0 points to a reading of 6.0 this month from February’s reading of 3.0. Analysts had expected the index to improve by 2.0 points to 6.0 in March.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates increasing order volume is expected, below indicates expectations are for lower volume.
Anna Leach, CBI Head of Economic Analysis, said, “The picture in the manufacturing sector remains positive. Overall, demand continues to rise and output growth is robust.”
“Measures announced in the budget should help businesses to break into new, faster growing markets and underpin an improvement in the UK’s export performance,” she added.
Following the release of that data, the pound held on to losses against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD shedding 0.08% to trade at 1.6525.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained lower. London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.05%, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 1%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.9%, while Germany's DAX lost 0.95%.